Biden appointee added to prosecution in Bryan Kohberger's Idaho student murder trial

Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman on Apr 3, 2025

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BOISE, Idaho — A former U.S. attorney for Idaho has joined the team prosecuting Idaho college student homicide defendant Bryan Kohberger.

Josh Hurwit, 44, chosen by former President Joe Biden for his prior role, left the appointed position in February in the transition to President Donald Trump. Now Hurwit will assist in the state’s case against the lone suspect in the high-profile capital murder trial, according to a court filing that disclosed his addition.

Hurwit declined to comment on his new duties in the Kohberger case when reached by the Idaho Statesman on Thursday. While still U.S. attorney, he worked closely with the FBI, and previously declined requests for comment about the quadruple homicide case. The FBI helped Moscow police and Idaho State Police with arriving at Kohberger as the suspect.

Led by Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, the state intends to seek the death penalty for Kohberger if a jury finds him guilty on the four murder charges he faces at trial, scheduled for this summer in Boise. Hurwit also declined a previous request from the Statesman about Idaho’s new law that will make a firing squad the state’s lead execution method starting next year.

“I’m unable to engage on that case or that issue,” Hurwit said in a text message last month after he departed the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Hurwit, a Harvard Law School graduate, brings additional cachet to the team prosecuting Kohberger after his two-plus years as the lead federal attorney in Idaho. The other attorneys for the prosecution include Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye and Ashley Jennings, Thompson’s senior deputy prosecuting attorney in Latah County.

Last week, a different court filing showed the addition of Idaho Deputy Attorney General Madison Allen, 31, to the prosecution team for the jury selection process, which is set to start July 30. The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11.

Allen joined the Attorney General’s Office in September 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile. Her supervisor in the office was former Idaho Deputy Attorney General Ingrid Batey, who worked as a special prosecutor appointed to the Kohberger case until she left to join the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office in January, Batey told the Statesman by email.

Batey declined to comment further, citing the active gag order in the case.

Kohberger is next due in court on April 9 for a hearing on motions to limit a variety of evidence and two additional attempts by the defense to drop the death penalty if he is convicted at trial.

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